


Dimming of the Day

by Cell151



Category: RWBY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-30 19:52:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10170560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cell151/pseuds/Cell151
Summary: Summer Rose returns home to her family in Patch after a long mission. But she is worried about events to come as reports start to come about new types of Grimm appearing over Remnant.





	

**Home**

Summer Rose thanked the driver of the pick-up, a local farmer she had known for quite some time, for the ride and for the small bag of grapes. She waved as the pick-up drove off down the road. She picked up her satchel and let out a sigh. After three days of travel she was mere minutes away from arriving at her home in Patch.

She often used the time it took her to walk the quarter mile to her home to mentally unwind from her latest mission. Even during long hours of travel she, as a huntress, needed to keep her guard up. Besides she had a lot on her mind. She hadn't liked her last conversation with Qrow and Ozpin, not just because of the subject matter but how they responded to it. While some would label Qrow as a pessimist (he always countered that he was a realist), he was often right and that scared Summer. Oz's tone was its usual calm and full of pleasantries but then he would get cryptic, which drove her crazy to point of wanting to strangle him.

She forced the memory of her meeting with the Beacon academy headmaster and focused something more positive: her family. She smiled at the thought of how excited Yang and Ruby are going to be when she walks through the door. She listened to hear if they were playing in the yard. The only sound she heard was birdsong. It was September now and fall was rapidly approaching. Soon the leaves would start to change color and fall, creating mounds to which Ruby and Yang could happily leap into.

Summer closed her eyes and lifted her head to bask in the warmth of the sun. She opened her eyes and saw how the rays of the sun filtered through the tree branches overhead. She looked ahead and saw her house ahead of her. She quickened her pace. She had been from the palaces of Atlas to the mountains of Mistral. But nothing felt like coming back to her little home in Patch. She remembered how Tai demurred at a home tucked away in the country, suggesting a home in the suburbs outside Beacon or along the coast. But he soon saw the charm of the place. While here it felt like the outside world didn't exist.

From what she had been hearing from Qrow and Ozpin, she needed that more then ever. She also felt it wasn't the right to time to tell Ruby and Yang about the real dangers of the world and the Grimm. That the monsters in their storybooks and the tales told by Qrow, Tai and herself were far more frightening and deadly.

The Grimm was the topic of her conversation with Qrow and Oz. There were reports of new types of Grimm, deadlier and tougher than previous ones on record. In the past there were stories of hunters and huntresses occasionally coming across a rare type of Grimm. That was the dream of many fresh-faced students at the academies. Take down a rare Grimm and get put in the books. Team STRQ had taken on some unique Grimm during the eight years they were together.

But now the reports of new Grimm were becoming more and more frequent. So were reports of whole villages being wiped out. Both Summer and Qrow had seen first hand the scale of devastation some of these towns and its population had endured. The first time she walked through the charred remains of a once prosperous town and had seen bodies lying in the streets with tarps over them she broke down. Qrow found her emptying the contents of her stomach besides a tree on the outskirts of town. It was not like Summer had not seen death before, it was that she had never seen it on a scale like that. As Qrow consoled her all she wanted to do was get back to Tai and the children.

After that day she started to have nightmares. If she were lucky Tai would also be awake and take her into his arms. Most of times however Tai, being a heavy sleeper, wouldn’t and Summer would sit in the dark trying to will over the images that her mind had conjured up. The one that occurred the most was her arriving home to find the house destroyed and her family lying on the ground covered by sheets. Qrow would be standing over them having arrived too late. Summer would often go into the children’s room, sit in the rocking chair and watching her daughters peacefully sleep. It took her a long time to tell Tai about her dreams.

Patch was not devoid of Grimm but attacks on people were often rare and there hadn't been a sighting in the populated areas in Patch for years. The locals attribute a lot of that to Summer who was the first professional huntress to deal with the Grimm in the area for quite some time. When Summer returned from the forest she was asked if she killed all the Grimm. She replied that she had slain most of them. The others she let live. She had given them an opportunity to attack but instead they fled deep into the forest. They knew now to stick to the deep forest and not to venture toward the town again. The people of Patch hadn't been bothered by the Grimm ever since.

The house had come into view. Summer walked down the path and came to the front door. She was not more then three steps into the living room when a four year-old Ruby came running around the corner.

"MOMMY," cried the little girl excitedly, her red cape billowing behind her. Summer bent down and held out her arms. Ruby jumped into them and giggled as Summer lifted her into the air and started planting kisses all over her face.

"How's my little rose?"

"I missed you Momma."

Summer nuzzled her daughter's nose. "I know you did sweetheart." Summer could hear the quick pattering of feet. She smiled. "Now where's my sunflower?" She looked around her and saw no one. She turned and could hear footsteps trying to match hers but not quite. She took a step in the opposite direction and once again heard footsteps behind her. Ruby had her hands over her mouth trying unsuccessfully to keep from laughing. Summer looked behind her and saw a small shape underneath her white cloak.

The shape raised its arms and waved them about. "Boo! I'm a ghost."

Summer and Ruby laughed.

"Very scary," giggled Summer.

"Spooky," agreed Ruby.

The shape lowered its arms. "I try," said Yang. Summer got down on her knees and pulled her cape off her eldest daughter. "Hi Mom."

Summer shifted Ruby into her left arm and held out her right. Yang pounced forward into Summer's embrace. "Hello my sweetie." She went back and forth giving kisses to each child. "I missed you two so much."

"Hey can I get in on this?" Tai entered the room.

"Surely Mr. Rose," said Summer, teasing her husband.

"I kindly appreciate it Mrs. Xiao Long," said Tai with smirk.

Summer stood up, a child in each arm as she walked forward and gave Tai a big kiss.

"Blech," said Yang sticking her tongue out.

"Gross," lamented Ruby kicking her feet.

Summer and Tai and chuckled and continued to kiss as the two children loudly protested and tried to escape from their mother's grasp.

"Okay we've tortured them enough," said Tai taking Yang into his arms and setting her down.

"My eyes! My eyes," cried Yang.

Summer chuckled. Yang got her flair for the over dramatic from her father.

Despite Tai telling the children that their mother needed rest, Yang and Ruby insisted on showing Summer what they had been up to while she had been gone. Summer said it was alright and was led off to the children's room. She always has time for her daughters.

Afterwards Summer dropped her bag onto her bed and put her weapon into a specially designed case, placed on a high shelf, out of the children's reach. She unhooked her cloak and tossed it onto a nearby chair before collapsing onto the bed. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Moments later she felt a hand move up her side. A smile formed on her lips.

"Find anything of interest?"

"Oh plenty," said Tai in a husky voice.

"Tonight," she said opening her eyes and reaching up to tap his nose, "I promise."

Tai was at first disappointed but then accepted it. "I'll hold you to it." He sat on the bed next to her. He pulled out a scroll. "By the way our friend up in the north sent back some schematics for that scythe you've been working on it."

Summer sat up quickly. "Really? Gimme!" She grabbed Tai's scroll and looked over the plans based on a series of sketches she had drawn up. She grinned at the level of detail given to each part and how her ideas had been implemented into its final design. "Thank you Schnee Dust Company." She scrolled to the bottom of the plans and was disappointed to find no personal note from her old friend at Beacon, only her signature:

Willow Schnee

"Something wrong," asked Tai.

"Nothing. I just thought she might have included a note about how she was doing and how her girls were. She hasn't answered my letters in a long time."

"Oh she left a comment." He scrolled up and pointed at the header.

It read: "Crescent Rose"

And below it was a small note: "Very original Summer."

Summer smiled. She had deeply missed her friend. Although at Beacon they were on separate teams they had quickly bonded over their love of weapons. Willow Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, was a reserved and quite shy individual. She didn't have the business knack her father and younger brother had but what she did love was being a huntress and building weapons. When she arrived at Beacon Willow did not interact with much of the student population outside of her team nor was she openly approached by anyone mainly due to stature of her family name. One person who was not intimidated by it was Summer who found that Willow was not the cold, stuck-up rich girl many had perceived but rather a bookworm and weapons nerd…and a little stuck-up. The two immediately hit it off and over the years at Beacon Willow gradually came out of her shell.

Most notably she was the first and only person to ever beat Qrow Branwen at a drinking game.

It happened at the local watering hole The Old Rooster. What began with a couple of shots quickly escalated to giant steins of alcohol being consumed. Throughout the whole magical event Willow was calm, cool and smug as Qrow hurled insults at her and tried to stay upright, Tai and Port trying their best to keep their friend going. After all they had a lot of money riding on him. Summer and Raven were in Willow's corner and were going ballistic as their friend effortlessly knocked back whatever was put in front of her.

Finally after almost four hours Qrow finally passed out. Willow stood up with no trouble. "Well Mr. Branwen that was quite an enjoyable game." Qrow lifted his head onto the table after throwing up on the floor. She placed a stack of her winnings in front of him. "For your troubles and your laundry bill." She turned to the crowd that had assembled. "Drinks all around!" The pub erupted in cheers.

The next day Willow was the topic of conversation. The quiet and slightly prissy heiress had beaten known boozer Qrow Branwen. Willow was sitting with Summer and Raven quite pleased with herself when a hush fell over the cafeteria. Qrow was walking towards the group. She was expecting more insults and maybe a challenge to a rematch. Instead Qrow just smiled warmly at her.

"You're alright Schnee."

"Uhh thanks," said a slightly flustered Willow. Some giggling came from Summer which was silenced by Willow nudging her with her elbow. Raven just rolled her eyes and returned to reading her book.

After that Qrow and Willow appeared to be on friendlier terms. So much so that when one afternoon Summer went to Willow's dorm room to collect a weapon she had Willow repair for her. She found Willow and Qrow in bed. Well Willow was in bed, Qrow was standing in front of it with his backside towards Summer who quickly shut the door.

It took a while for Summer to get over that bit of trauma. When she asked Willow about her and Qrow, her response was: "He's really sweet...once you get past the outer shell of asshole-ness."

"'Asshole-ness'"

"Tai's word, not mine."

When Willow's father became ill after years of overworking and not taking care of himself, Willow made the choice of co-running the family business with her younger brother Val who had been to business school. Val would handle the day-to-day operations while Willow would continue to be a huntress but also be the public face of the company, helping with promotion and continuing her parents' charity work.

Four months after her graduation Willow's father passed away at the age of 61.

Three years later tragedy struck the Schnee family again when Val died in an airship accident. There were rumors going around that it was not accident but an act of industrial espionage. An inquiry was made but the official ruling was that it was an accident although many, including Willow, had their doubts.

Now Willow was left with a company she didn't know how to run. Her mother was a huntress and instructor at Atlas Academy so she could only give her daughter emotional support rather than business advice.

Then Jacques entered Willow's life. The last time many of her friends had seen her was at her wedding. Qrow didn't show up but he did write her letter. After that Team STRQ saw their friend less and less. They had expected that with Jacques running the business Willow would follow through with her huntress aspirations. She did for a while, joining her mother at the academy. Then her daughter Winter was born and then another daughter named Weiss who was Yang's age.

It had been almost two years since Summer had any direct contact with her friend. She had stated that she wanted to go to Atlas to see her friend and her children but there was always something job or family related that prevented her.

"I worry about her," said Summer handing Tai his scroll.

"I'm sure she's fine."

"But is she happy?"

"I don't know. Are Schnees known for being happy?" Summer glared at him. She grabbed a pillow and started plummeting him with it. "I was just kidding! I take it back!" He chuckled as Summer continued to pout. "You're cute when you're angry."

"Am I," asked Summer with a grin.

"Very." His grin got wider as she gently pushed him back down onto the bed and she climbed on top of him.

"How about now," she asked running her hands over his chest.

"Better," he said, wrapping his arms around her as she leaned down to kiss him.

"I missed you so much," she said, "I've been spending too much time away from home."

"It's tough but we make do," he said, "Although I must confess I'm a little worried about these long missions you’ve been on recently. Especially with some of the stories I've been hearing from colleagues at Haven. What did Oz say?"

Summer paused before giving his nose a kiss. "I'll tell you later."

Tai had no problem with that, running a hand through her long black and red hair. His other hand reached underneath her skirt and gave her behind a squeeze.

"Find something you like," she asked giving his lips a peck.

"Yes quite. In fact judging by the lace I think it might be one I got you."

"I like you have remember that but you can't remember a locker combination to save your life."

"It's simple: your undergarments are more important to me then some old gym shoes." He undid a button on the back of her skirt and started to pull down the zipper when there was a knock at the door. A second later the door started to open.

"Mom, Dad, we're hungry," said Yang.

Summer rolled off her husband and sat up on the bed by the time Yang peeked her head into the room. A feat accomplished by years of practice of not trying not to get caught in the middle of some affection.

"Yes dear," she said fixing her hair.

"We're starving," moaned Yang, falling to her knees and clutching her stomach. "I can't go on. Everything...fading…"

Summer giggled while Tai groaned.

"Talk about melodrama," said Tai.

"Wonder where she gets it." A second later Summer jumped as Tai pinched her behind.

"I'll get dinner started," said Tai getting up and quickly going over to Yang to avoid any retaliation from his wife. He picked up Yang who was frozen in a dramatic pose. "Come on you little urchin."

"So cold," whispered Yang, "So cold."

Summer softly laughed as she watched Tai carry their oldest from the room. She stretched her arms and fell back on thigh back with a content sigh, basking in the warm rays of the sun filtering in through the bedroom window.

It was so nice to be home.

**Author's Note:**

> A little short but more to come.  
> Comments, questions and thoughts are greatly appreciated!


End file.
